Conventional bottles for liquids are typically made of petroleum-based plastics. Reacting to the rising cost of petroleum-based plastics, manufacturers of conventional plastic bottles have been making bottles thinner in recent years. This trend is predicted to continue for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile, the price of pulp products having certain strength and performance attributes has stayed relatively stable. As conventional petroleum-based plastic bottles have been made thinner, their performance as measured by static load and compressive strength has often been compromised. Petroleum-based plastics also have a larger carbon footprint than pulp and bioplastics, as petroleum-based plastics typically do not biodegrade, while both pulp and bioplastics do. Further, pulp and bioplastics are made from environmentally sustainable resources, and the former can be recycled easily.
There have been many recent efforts to develop biodegradable bottles having potential to address problems relating to the cost, performance, and environmental impact of conventional bottles. The most common biodegradable bottles are made from bioplastics, particularly polylactic acid (PLA). These bottles are relatively expensive, and in some respects, PLA bottles do not perform as well as pulp-based bottles.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,385,764 and 5,705,237 relate to a container incorporating a hydraulically settable structural matrix including a hydraulically settable binder such as cement for use in the storing, dispensing, and/or packing of food and beverage products. Disposable containers and cups are those that are particularly useful for dispensing hot and cold food and beverages in a fast food restaurant industry.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,899,793 relates to a method of manufacturing a pulp mold formed body. The method feeds a pulp slurry to a cavity of a paper making mold having a prescribed cavity shape to form a pulp pre-form including a main part having an opening and a separate part having a flange and connected to an edge of the opening. A pressing member is inserted into the pre-form; the pressing member is expanded to press the pre-form toward the paper making surface; the pre-form is removed from the paper making mold; and then the preform is cut at a joint between the separable part and the main part.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,048,975 relates to a pulp molded container comprising a pulp molded article having, on the inner surface and/or the outer surface, a resin with the thickness of 5-300 μm formed by applying a coating. The thickness ratio of the resin layer to the molded article is ½ to 1/100, and the surface roughness profile of the outer or inner surface of the pulp molded article is such that a center line average roughness is 0.5 to 20 μm.
U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. US 2010/0200591 (published Aug. 12, 2010), and a product manufactured by the assignee of such patent application (Greenbottle), provide a composite of pulp and a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bladder, where the end user separates the bladder from the pulp at end of use and recycles them in their respective streams. However, if a user left the whole bottle to biodegrade it would not do so due to its PET bladder.
While there have been attempts in the prior art to address the problems relating to cost, performance, and environmental impact of bottles, there remains a need for new solutions to address these issues with greater efficacy.